Quinten

Quinten is another - mainly Dutch - rendition of the Roman name Quintinus which is derivative of the Latin “quintus” meaning “fifth”. The name has been around since ancient times and was commonly bestowed upon the fifth child in terms of birth order or a baby born in the fifth month of the year. The name garnered wider appear in the Middle Ages thanks to the cult and legends which grew up around a 3rd century saint. St. Quentin was a Roman citizen martyred in Gaul (present day Saint-Quentin, Aisne in northern France) for preaching Christianity to the pagans and converting a considerable amount of Gauls. His cult was especially popular in medieval France where he had earlier made his largest impact; a sizable number of place names are so-called in honor of St. Quentin. After his beheading, St. Quentin’s body was unceremoniously thrown onto a river bank by Roman soldiers. According to medieval legend, about 50 years after his death a blind-lady discovered the corpse and severed head completely intact. The sightless woman said she had been led to his gravesite through prayer. She took the body to a hillside for a proper burial and her eyesight was (of course) miraculously restored. A basilica was erected at his tomb a few hundred years later. The Normans brought the name Quentin to England in the later Middle Ages but it has remained most popular in France and Belgium. Quentin is the spelling more preferred in France and the United States. Quinten is used more commonly in Belgium and the Netherlands – it’s often considered the Dutch spelling.